The Bad Apple Effect in Interpersonal Trust and Its Transmission

Abstract

Abstract: Bad apple effect means that individuals would turn to be unethical after observing another's unethical behaviors such as cheating. It is important to investigate whether the third party's untrustworthy behavior would inhibit observer's trust and how profound this effect would be to affect the behaviors of the second- and third-hand observers. To investigate these questions, this study designed a trust game with transmission chain. It was revealed that participants' trust toward their own partners was inhibited by observing the third party's untrustworthy behavior. Trustors who observed the third party's untrustworthy behavior expected their own partners as less trustworthy, and this expectation was positively correlated with the real trustworthiness of their partners. Fortunately, the bad apple effect in interpersonal trust diminished with the transmission of trust games. Trust level of participants, especially which of participants who observed the third party's untrustworthy behaviors, restored gradually.

Key words: trust, trustworthiness, bad apple effect, transmission chain

摘要： 坏苹果效应指的是人们观察到他人的不道德行为后自身的道德水准也会下降。在人际信任中，第三者的不可信行为（即坏苹果）可能破坏观察者的信任水平。本研究分析了人际信任中是否存在坏苹果效应，以及坏苹果效应的传递问题，即第三者的不可信行为对间接观察者的影响。基于信任博弈的传递链研究发现，第三者的不可信行为会破坏直接观察者的信任，说明人际信任中存在坏苹果效应。然而，随着传递链的进行，被破坏的人际信任有逐渐恢复的趋势。此外，第三者的不可信行为会同时破坏被试对自身交往对象可信性的预期和对方的实际可信性。最后，对上述发现的原因和启示进行了讨论。

关键词: 信任, 可信性, 坏苹果效应, 传递链方法

CLC Number:

B849

LIU Guofang, XIN Ziqiang, LIN Chongde. The Bad Apple Effect in Interpersonal Trust and Its Transmission[J]. Studies of Psychology and Behavior, 2017, 15(5): 691-696.

刘国芳, 辛自强, 林崇德. 人际信任中的坏苹果效应及其传递[J]. 心理与行为研究, 2017, 15(5): 691-696.

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